


The next stop will be Union Station

by kirani



Series: Czernsgiving (Noah Week) [7]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chicago (City), Developing Friendships, Gen, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21741712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: When train delays and cool Metra employees put Noah onto an empty train with a stranger, the two hit it off and become friends. Which turns out to be a very good thing.Written for Czernsgiving Day 7: free space
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Czernsgiving (Noah Week) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558759
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Czernsgiving 2019 A Noah Week





	The next stop will be Union Station

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off a real thing that happened to me (the beginning anyways) and that’s literally the only reason it takes place in chicago. I just don’t know public transit in other cities. and yes they eat at one of my fave restaurants, don't @ me.

Noah was freezing. He hadn’t dressed warm enough for this day trip and now he was regretting it. He checked his phone again, five minutes until the train. 

“Attention Metra customers,” the loud speaker crackled. “Inbound trains are running with a fifteen minute delay. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Fuck,” Noah muttered. He walked back to the station but the door remained locked, closed for the night on the holiday schedule. He bounced in place for a minute but it didn’t really help. Instead, he blasted his music louder to distract. 

A moment later, though, the track lights began to flash and the warnings clanged as a train slid into the station. The cars all looked empty but it was late on a holiday so maybe it just wasn’t crowded? Noah walked away from the shelter of the station door and approached the train as it stopped. The door didn’t open of the first car so he walked down to the next, but it hadn’t opened either. He looked back down the platform and saw another boy hauling a duffle bag after him. 

“Are they gonna open it?” the boy asked when Noah pulled off his headphones.

“Don’t know, they said it was delayed.”

They walked together silently to the next car but it wasn’t open either, and Noah could tell by now that the entire train was completely empty. 

“Where are you going?” Called a voice.

Noah turned towards the back of the train to see two Metra employees approaching with a flashlight and a tool kit. 

“Union,” answered Noah. 

“This train isn’t really running but I can check with the conductor if you can ride if you’re going all the way.”

“Yes!” Noah said with a grin. “All the way to Union.”

“You, too?” The employee asked the other boy. 

“Yes,” he said. 

“Come with me.” 

The employees walked past Noah and the other boy and set off towards the front of the train. He exchanged a look with the other traveler and got a shrug in return. Better than freezing on the platform, he supposed. 

The employees boarded with a short, “wait here,” and they could hear voices inside the car before the man emerged again. “Come on up. Stay in the front half of the car.”

“Okay,” Noah said, climbing the steep stairs. “Thank you!”

He dropped his backpack onto an empty seat and rubbed his hands together, trying to warm up. “Probably one of my weirder Metra experiences, and that’s saying something.”

The other guy chuckled. “Yeah.”

They sat in silence until the train started to move quickly down the tracks and then Noah laughed again. 

“What?” 

“Ghost train,” he said spookily. 

The other boy laughed, too, and Noah grinned. “I’m Adam.”

“Noah.”

“What are you doing on Metra late at night?” 

“Coming back from visiting my Grandpa. You?”

Adam gestured to his suitcase. “Was staying with a friend for a week, helping with some stuff. Heading home now.”

Noah nodded. “Me too. Was only here for today day, though.”

“And that’s how you dressed?” Adam teased. 

Noah chuckled, fidgeting with his fall jacket that hadn’t stood up to the sudden cold snap. “I didn’t check the weather.”

“Clearly,” Adam smirked. 

They made some other small talk, including Noah’s spot on impression of the Clarendon Hills announcement mispronunciation, Adam’s revelation that his friend had a new baby and that’s what he had been helping with, and Noah’s complaints about his little sister suddenly refusing to go visit their grandfather without him. 

Noah relaxed into the conversation as the train sped towards the city. When they pulled into Union Station, the doors opened and the two of them left without a sign of the employee who had let them on. Noah looked at Noah as they made their way off the platform. 

“Should tell my friend I didn’t get murdered on the ghost train,” Adam said, pulling out his phone as he walked and shooting off a quick text. 

“Where are you headed? I was thinking about getting a cab, if you wanna split.” 

“Oh, um, I’m on the north side, Lakeview. It’s okay, though, I’m gonna just take the red line.”

“I’m in Lakeview, too,” Noah said. 

“I’m gonna stick with the train, thanks, though.”

Noah hummed. “Then I’ll join you, if that’s okay.”

“Uh, I guess?” Adam said, hoisting his duffle higher on his shoulder. 

Noah grinned and held the door open for him. They walked down Jackson until they got to State and descended into the red line station. Noah felt frozen again from the ten minute walk and rubbed his hands on his thighs as they waited on the platform. 

“C’mere, that’s not gonna do much.” Adam reached out his hands and Noah let him take them, rubbing them gently between his gloved hands. “You’ve gotta get some gloves, Noah.”

“I own gloves!” Noah protested. “I just left them at home. How was I supposed to know it was only gonna be ten degrees today?”

“There’s this amazing invention called a smartphone, and you can use it to get information about things,” Adam teased. “I know you have one.”

Noah pulled his hands back in mock-outrage and Adam laughed. The train pulled up and they got a seat together in the mostly empty car, falling into easy conversation again. Noah felt Adam’s phone buzz after a minute between them and Adam slid it out to read a text. 

He rolled his eyes. “He’s convinced the ghost train was a bad omen and I’m gonna get murdered before I get home. I’ve escaped the ghost train but he’s not satisfied.”

“I promise I’m not a murderer,” Noah said solemnly. 

Adam laughed and typed something back. His phone rang a moment later. “Yes, Lynch?” he answered with a grin. 

“He was on the ghost train with me.”

“He promised he’s not a murdered.”

“Lynch, we’re just taking the red line together, would you chill.”

There were a few more words over the phone until Adam blushed darkly and interrupted at last. “Hanging up now, see you tomorrow.” 

Noah hid a smile at the adorable exchange between Adam and his apparent boyfriend.

Adam looked at Noah sheepishly. “Sorry, he’s a little paranoid.”

“It’s okay.” He figured if he’d had a boyfriend he’d also be worried about him. It was sweet. 

He looked up to see the train emerging from the tunnel and coming up on Fullerton. “I’m at Belmont, so he doesn’t have to worry for much longer.”

“Sheridan,” Adam offered. 

“There’s a really good Thai place over there!” 

“I know, I love it!” 

They chatted easily again, tension of the phone call gone, and then the train pulled up at Belmont and Noah stood and waved goodbye. The cold hit him harshly again and he pulled his hat further down on his head before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading home. 

By the time he got back to his apartment, he realized he should have exchanged numbers with Adam. He really didn’t have that many friends in the city yet and he would have liked another one. Oh well.

His roommate, Blue, fussed over him when he got home, shoving him onto the couch and draping a heated throw over him as she pulled off his converse so he could put on the slippers she had set there. “Thanks, Blue.”

“What possessed you to go out in just a jean jacket and hoodie?” She scolded.

“I’m sorry,  _ Mom _ , I didn’t realize how cold it had gotten.”

She huffed but left and went into the kitchen, coming back with a mug of tea which Noah clutched gratefully. 

The next morning, Noah awoke almost too warm with an empty stomach. 

“I want pancakes,” he declared as he entered their tiny kitchen. 

“Good morning, Noah, I slept well, thank you.”

“Bluuuueeeee,” Noah whined. “Please can we get pancakes? It’s Tuesday, Pick Me Up will be empty!” 

Blue sighed and picked up her phone, firing off a text. Her phone buzzed with a reply quickly. “Henry’s in. Let’s go, Czerny.”

Noah pumped his fist in the air and rushed off to get dressed. 

They met Henry at the kitschy diner and got a seat quickly. They chatted as they drank coffee and ordered pancakes and benedicts, as Noah told the story of the ghost train and meeting Adam and then he looked up and saw Adam. 

“Oh, it’s him!” 

Adam had walked into the diner with a tall guy with a shaved head and tattoos peeking out of a leather jacket and a guy in an obnoxiously pink polo shirt. Noah waved excitedly and Adam waved back. The host approached and spoke with Adam for a moment before leading them to the booth across from Noah and his friends. 

“Hi! I was just talking about you!” 

Adam’s eyebrows rose and he stared at Noah. “You were?” 

“Yeah, telling my friends about our weird ghost train adventure. Oh, this is Blue and Henry. And I’m Noah, Adam’s friends.”

“Oh, yeah, it was pretty wild, huh? This is Ronan Lynch and Gansey.” 

“Oh, this is Lynch! Nice to meet you. Told you I wasn’t a murderer.”

Ronan narrowed his eyes and watched Noah carefully as he shrugged out of his jacket, showing more of his tattoo and flexing a little as he did. 

Noah swallowed. “Nor am I trying to steal your boyfriend, geez.” He turned back to Blue and Henry who had been watching the exchange intently. “He’s the one who called when we were on the train.” He switched to a stage whisper. “He worries.”

Adam laughed nervously and snapped his menu up in front of his face. Ronan looked confused. 

“They’re not dating,” Gansey interjected when it seemed neither of them would answer. 

“Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

An awkward silence fell between the tables. Noah snuck a look at Ronan who was watching Adam. He totally wanted to be Adam’s boyfriend! 

He let the silence fall between the tables and soon Blue struck up another topic that last them through drinks and food arriving. Shortly after, though, Gansey stood and slid across the aisle into their booth. 

“Mind if I join?” 

Noah blinked at him. “What?”

“You seem to have… introduced something new to the dynamic there.”

All four of them looked over at the other booth where Adam and Ronan were now in the same booth and rather wrapped up in each other. 

“I fucking knew it,” Noah whispered loudly. “Welcome to the table, Gansey.”

The waiter seemed confused but quickly adjust and slid Gansey’s food in front of him and Adam and Ronan’s to the original table, where they finally pulled back from their whispered conversation and kisses, lacing their fingers together on the table as they awkwardly tried to eat their brunch. 

“I’m glad you met Adam. I was getting tired of waiting for them to figure it out,” Gansey said as he tore into his eggs benedict. “Did you get these two together, too?” He gestured to Henry and Blue across from him who exchanged a look and burst out laughing. 

“Also not together,” Henry laughed. “Good try, though.”

Gansey shrugged and took another bite. “So you’re single then?” 

Blue stopped laughing and crossed her arms. “What, just because I’m the only girl here?” 

“Oh, I was just asking, you know, in general. All of you. I’m, er, I’m actually bi. So.”

“Bisexual disaster alert.” Blue relaxed as she huffed a small laugh and unfolded her arms. 

The four of them chatted as they ate, occasionally shooting looks over at Adam and Ronan who didn’t even seem to notice. When their bills came, the waiter stood in the aisle and waved them around awkwardly. “How do y’all wanna do this?” 

Ronan pulled out his wallet and gave him the credit card before any of them could speak. “I’ve got it all.”

“Ronan!” Gansey protested, followed by the rest of the party. 

“Dick,” Ronan shot back, glaring at Gansey as if daring him to act. 

The waiter just laughed and went to ring out the tabs. 

“You really didn’t have to do that,” Noah said again. 

“I know. But I think I owe you one. Thank you.”

“Not really sure what I did but you’re welcome,” Noah shrugged. 

“Here,” Adam pulled out his phone and handed it across the aisle. “Put your number in. Clearly we should be friends.”

“Agreed!” Noah said, grabbing the phone and entering his contact info. Noah [ghost emoji] [train emoji] Czerny.

The whole group ended up exchanging numbers before they went on their way and Noah decided that the weirdness of the ghost train had been well worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all who've been reading my Czernsgiving prompts! I was only a couple days behind, I'll take it. Come have feels about Noah with me on [tumblr](https://blueseyforthesoul.tumblr.com/)?


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